The American Canoe Association has developed one of the biggest and most progressive network of River Safety and Rescue Instructors in the world. This training, a first for Canada, is taught by R3’s founder and rescue expert Jim Coffey. Learning to be a Rescue Instructor under Jim’s mentorship provided candidates with a way to polish their own skills (Instructor Development Workshop-IDW) as well as become certified to teach (Instructor Certification Exam-ICE). Many groups (summer camps for example) invest to have outside instructors train their staff. Now, they can invest in their own staff to become proficient to train the rest of their staff. This is a fun, challenging and rewarding way to up your game in the river rescue world.

This 6 day course takes place over 2 back to back 3 day weekends allowing candidates 4 days off to fine tune and hone their skills before their Instructor Certification Exam. If you are looking at breaking into the Professional River Rescue Instructor world, this is your place to start!

Availability & Costs

Dates

Cost

CALL FOR COURSE DATES

$300.00 plus applicable taxes

Recertification Note: It is recommended to upgrade to R3-Pro within 3 years.

Contract Courses Available Upon Request

Esprit is a world renown leader, innovator and provider of water rescue training for the commercial and recreational whitewater industries. All courses are offered by Esprit in association with Sierra Rescue International. Contact jim@whitewater.ca for more info.

What’s included with your course

Instructor support material, successful candidates will receive ACA Level 4 River Safety and Rescue Instructor Certificate from The American Canoe Association upon completion of the course.

Students are required to bring or rent their own personal safety equipment (helmet, PFD, river clothing/shoes). Meals and accommodation are not included in the course cost; please contact the host site for options and pricing. See below for meal/accommodation options for courses held at Esprit.

Customize your ACA River Rescue Instructor course with Esprit by adding any of the following options:

Optional Add-ons

Options

Options Details

Amount

Accommodation:

Camping(bring your own tent)

$15.00/night

Platform Tent Rental

$30.00/night

Hostel

$30.00/night

Meals:

Breakfast

$10.00

Lunch

$15.00

Ultimate BBQ

$25.00

Equipment:

PFD (lifejacket)

$5.00/day

Helmet

$5.00/day

Wetsuit

$20.00/day

Drysuit

$40.00/day

What you should bring for your course

Students are required to provide their own personal protective equipment for the course: Water/kayak helmet, Type III-V whitewater approved lifejacket/PFD (with a tethered swimmer harness), thick-soled water booties or tennis shoes (footwear should be a combination of sturdy with grip for moving quickly on slippery rocks plus lightweight and quick draining for swimming), gloves, drytop/drysuit/wetsuit (wetsuits/drysuits available for rent), polypropylene/synthetic long sleeve shirt & tights/leggings, insulating layers, swimsuit, quick dry shorts, sunscreen, towel, bag to carry wet clothing to and from river, dryland clothing, personal effects, as well as tent, headlamp/flashlight & sleeping bag if camping.

Latest news

The team at Esprit were phenomenal. Very professional and organized, no details were spared. The base camp accommodations, breakfast service and transportation were all perfect! Rafting was incredible and our guide Camilla exceeded expectations! I felt very safe and comfortable the entire time, which was...More

TiaK359/19/2017

Took 2 of my kids (12 & 9 y.o.) whitewater rafting with Esprit yesterday. Our guide Jamie was really great - friendly, fun and informative. I have done River Run several times and Wilderness Tours twice in the past. Esprit seemed to pack in more...More

Michaela T7/31/2017

There's a lot more to the trip than what I wrote, but it would be a really long review! The short version is: if you want to have an adventure, meet a lot of amazing people and sleep in the rain forest, then you should...More

Nicki V2/03/2018

We were a group of 9 and we had a blast. We did the full monty of wilderness first aid, swift river rescue and rafting. The place is amazing, the food was top notch and the instructors were excellent. Their is something for everyone here...More

rogerspaul79/08/2017

Esprit is well managed and fantastic! I would always pick Esprit as my number one choice for rafting in the world despite with other excellent rafting companies in that area of North America.

Andrew C10/30/2016

About Us

Esprit prides itself in being DIFFERENT than other whitewater outfitters.